Lies and Spies
by ohmygodthecringe
Summary: After many months of studying the behaviors of the female students of Ouran, I am able to perfectly imitate them and blend in. I highly doubt that the boys who engage in this Host club will be able to see through my well-made mask, or come to realize that I'm just a spy after Kyoya's laptop. After all, everyone thinks I'm giggly "Momo Tachibana," what can go wrong?


Gazing into my reflection, I concluded that I looked like a perfect little doll, just like all the girls at the school that I'll be attending. The girl who stared back at me in the mirror was no longer me, but a complete stranger. She stared back me with big, mocha eyes with long, fluttering eyelashes. Her perfect make-up gave the illusion that her skin was silky and smooth, and she had a head full of bouncy, caramel curls. I wore a perfect disguise, one that no one could see through. There wasn't even the faintest trace of my face, Mashiro was no more. You could no longer tell that I was a short-haired girl with midnight hair and charcoal eyes. No one could see that underneath this dainty doll, was a masculine girl who could perfectly be mistaken as a man. I wore a heavy mask of make-up that dramatically contoured and altered my facial features, and my hair was hidden under a hot, itchy wig. I even wore colored-contacts to be safe.

After many months of studying the behavior of the female students of Ouran Academy from afar, I am now able to perfectly imitate them and blend in without being noticed. During the day, I will be a giggly, scholarship student Momo Tachibana who visits the "Host club" everyday and swoons over the attractive boys part of that club. But by night, she will revert back to her true form as a spy for the Ishibana Company.

The Ishibana Company has been a competitor of the Ootori group for decades now. Both medical industries are run by some wealthy people I really couldn't care less about. The only reason why I was working for the Ishibanas was for the money, and because I was the best hacker there was in V.P(Virtual Pirates). No, we are not criminals. In fact, we're more of an FBI type of organization; we work for the government and therefore have access to unimaginable amounts of information on corporations or people. Usually, our missions consist of investigating identity theft cases in the virtual world and playing the role of "cyber police," ratting out hackers who usually turn out to be teenage boys messing around with their computers, or older men who want easy money. No one too harmful, and of course no one too skilled. Depending on the person's level of offense regarding to what they were hacking and why, they could either receive a minor punishment such as a fine, or a large one such as jail. However, from time to time we are given missions as spies to obtain certain information from one corporation to another. In my case, I was sent to retrieve data relating to the Ootori's business affairs so that the competing group, the Ishibanas, would "have the advantage."Does V.P accept bribes? Rarely, but yes: only if the corporation seeking for our help hasn't done anything sketchy in the past. Our computer programmers and our group as a whole outranks even the most resourceful of private investigating groups, or more specifically, the Ootori's "resources." Our tracks were so well-covered that only we can access them. No matter how skilled of a programmer or hacker someone was, it's simply impossible to break down our endless firewalls and encrypted codes. I love coding, everything is so logical and makes perfect sense.

So why do I have to go to Ouran Academy? Well the answer is simple. The youngest son of the Ootori group, Kyoya, has access to all the files of his father's company(and the files of everyone else at the school.) My main objective is to retrieve data, is it not? Well, I don't need the files of the students who go to Ouran. I already have them, and for the past three months I have studied and memorized all of them. Research is critical for any cyber spy, after all, knowledge is power.

I'm supposed to earn the trust of Ootori and his companions, so that accessing required data becomes much more easier. And like how we all say, "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." Sure, this Ootori fellow may not be my personal enemy, but I just gotta get my job done. I'm supposed to gain his trust, secretly steal the information needed, and then disappear without anyone suspecting anything. Easy and simple, right? I glanced at the picture of the bespecled boy once again. You can tell a lot about a person based on their physical appearance. Based on the images I've seen of him, he is a very calculating, logical, resourceful, and organized individual. His neat appearance indicates that he has good hygiene and could possibly be deemed as "a clean-freak." His glasses and lack of muscle indicates that in his spare time, he pursues the more quiet activities rather than the more physical ones. The dark bags under his eyes indicate that he's an insomniac, and most likely sacrifices sleep to get work done. Overall, he seems to be an introverted person who only has a limited number of friends who he actually trusts.

"Mashiro, it's time to go," my father's gruff voice called out from the kitchen.

"Yeah," I walked out and nodded as a greeting to dad. He's getting more thin, and his hair is starting to gray. He wanted a son, but I came instead so I got stuck with a boy's name. I don't mind though, and honestly, I don't think I'm much different from a son.

"Don't get caught, and be a perfect little actress, kay?" Dad patted my wig, eyeing me up and down with approval.

"You should dress up like this more often, it suits you. You actually look like a girl!" I smirked at him, and grabbed an apple on the way out of the front door.

"I thought you said you didn't care what I looked like," I called out to him as I face the door and slipped on my shoes. It was awfully hard looking at my feet when I was wearing this huge banana dress.

"I don't, but trying out different looks never hurt," I heard him take a sip from his coffee.

"Bye," I waved my hand over my shoulder as I opened the door, my back facing him the whole time.

"But remember, there's no place like ping 127 dot 0 dot 0 dot 1 !" My dad called out as I shut the door. I chuckled to myself; this joke could only be understood by computer nerds with some background knowledge about programming. But it's a silly, corny joke.

After walking about two miles, I finally arrived at the grand entry way of the school. Checking my appearance off of the reflection of my smartphone, my wig and make-up was still fine. If my make-up starts to run or smear, I have to fix it or else my face will actually look like mine again, and my real face must be hidden at all times. Stepping inside the ornate school, I plastered on a fake smile that all the rich students of Ouran seem to wear.

* * *

"My princess, you are more beautiful than the moon. If I could, I would spend the rest of my life gazing upon your beauty and admiring your radiance," the king of all flirts offered me a red rose, and I forced myself to blush. The music room was decorated to look like a traditional Japanese room, and all the Hosts were dressed in elaborate, traditional kimonos, with a significant amount of skin being exposed in the chest area, except for Haruhi Fujioka of course.

"Oh Tamaki, you're so romantic!" I clasped my hands to my face and turned away, so that I would seem "shy." But in reality, I was turning away so that I could hide a grimace. This guy's lines were so unoriginal and cheesy; how did girls actually like this? I found it annoying and it was super difficult for me to keep on acting as if I was head-over-heels for this act of his. Based on my research, I would be abnormal if I didn't find this "Tamaki" to be attractive. The only reason why I chose him was because most "normal" girls at this school would. My goal was to blend in, and I was doing a very good job. The group of female students who are now my "friends" have accepted me as one of them, and none of the hosts seem to be too interested in me.

I'm supposed to get close to Kyoya Ootori, but playing the role of a love-struck fangirl isn't enough. Frankly, the current act that I'm keeping up at the moment is the reason why I can't get close to him. In order for me to do so, I have to spark interest with the rest of the host members and gain their trust. Ugh, so much socializing and so much work to do. But, I think it'll be doable. All I have to do is "accidentally" find out that one of the hosts is actually a girl. I already planned out what will happen. After finding out the club's secret, I'm sure the Hosts will have to keep a close watch on me to ensure that I won't go about spreading the news.

"Why the loss of words? Have you fallen for me yet lovely princess?" I turned my attention back to the blonde prince, and I looked away again "blushing" while covering my face.

"D-don't make me feel so embarrassed!" I squeaked in a girly voice. The girls who had brought me here then started talking to Tamaki, and while they carried on their conversations I observed the rest of the Host club. The Hitachiins; they seemed to be the most difficult to win the trust of next to the Ootori boy. Next, Morinozuka Takashi and Haninozuka Mitsukuni. They'll still be challenge, but not as hard as the first three boys. Next, Haruhi Fujioka; she seems to be a kind, naive girl who would seek the "good" in everyone, she's second place. And the easiest person, is none other than the blonde boy who is sitting right next to me on the red, velvet couch. Without anyone noticing, I let one of my rings drop onto the ground, and no audible sound was made when it landed on the marbled floor; there were too many voices talking all at once in the room, creating one loud buzz.

Soon enough, it was time for the club to close. The girls, including myself, were all ushered out the ornate doors and I joined a group of girls complaining about how short their time was with the hosts.

"Come back soon Momo!" called out Tamaki. I let out a fake, perfect giggle while waving my hand.

"I will!" My fake name is Momo Tachibana. Dad and I were able to create convincing decoy files, birth certificate, et cetera; we even created some fake "childhood photos" of "Momo" so that when the Ootori does a background check on me, he thinks that he found everything he needs to know about me. We will be temporarily living in a cheap apartment close by to Fujioka's neighborhood, away from the main domain of V.P. The double doors closed after all of the females were out of the room, and I decided to wait about five-ish minutes before going back in to initiate the "accidentally-find-out-Haruhi's-gender" plan.

"So, how did you like the hosts Momo-san?" Asked the brunette with a bob cut. Giving her a perfect smile, I giggled while forcing myself to blush.

"They're so dreamy, especially Tamaki! He's like a perfect prince charming!" We all squealed in unison in agreement, and after some idle chatting we all parted ways. As soon as I was alone, I opened the door of the music room and plastered a "worried" face on.

"We're clos-"

"Have any of you seen my ring?!" My eyes were wide from panic, and I was looking around on the ground, not making eye-contact with any of the hosts.

"A ring? Have you lost it?" Tamaki approached me, and I started wandering around the room, bending down a bit as if I was searching for it.

"Yes! It's really important to me!" I made my voice quiver just the slightest, and I even made my eyes tear up a bit so that I convincingly looked distressed.

"We'll help you find it!" Tamaki looked on the ground as well, and Haruhi approached me.

"Where did you last see it?" Her brown eyes were swimming with concern.

"Over there somewhere," I pointed at a spot far from where the ring actually was. The twins looked bored, and slipped into the changing rooms so that they could avoid the hassle.

"We can help look for it too!" Said the adorable Haninozuka. I gave them a "grateful" smile.

"Thank you all so much!" I got down on all fours, looking for it while whispering worriedly to myself. Haruhi joined me in my "search." After a few minutes, she "found" my ring.

"Oh! Thank you so much Haruhi-san!" I took my ring from her and bowed deeply.

"It's not a problem, Momo-san," she said as she smiled.

"I will forever be grateful! Thank you once again!" I then hugged her quickly, and tightly before any of the Hosts could stop me. After a few moments, I "realized" something. Face flushing, I widened my eyes as if I was shocked to realize that she was a girl. I saw the panic on Tamaki's face, and at that moment the twins showed up.

"Oh, have you found it yet?" they asked in unison. I made my face turn cherry red, and said in a frantic voice:

"I'm so sorry! I-I..." I quickly jerked off of her, and stumbled backwards but didn't trip. I tried to look frantic and embarrassed; my eyes were quickly darting from each host's face, and I tried running out of the room. The blonde prince slammed the door and stood in my way. Perfect, everything happened according to what I've planned. I spent weeks developing and calculating this plan, revising and editing it countless times to ensure that nothing could go wrong. All that planning has finally paid off.

"Why are you running?" He asked in a panicked voice.

"Tamaki, it's alright if she knows-"

"Haruhi! You're looking especially manly today!" Tamaki's eyes were wide with panic, and in a pathetic attempt to cover up her gender he urged the twins to do the same, non-verbally telling them with his eyes to help him out.

"Y-yeah! You must've been working out!" Said one twin whose face grew just as worried as Tamaki's.

"In fact, do you think you could help me carry something heavy? Cuz your so manly and everything!" Said the other Hitachiin.

"Boys, you can drop it. Miss Tachibana here already seems to know about Haruhi," the Ootori boy adjusted his glasses as he sighed.

"Guy's it's fine, it's not really a big deal," Haruhi said in a calm voice.

"Please oh please promise me that you won't tell anyone princess!" Tamaki was clutching both of my hands as he gazed at me with hopeful eyes, resembling a puppy.

"U-um..." I blushed in feigned embarrassment and turned away.

"Miss Tachibana, in order to ensure that Haruhi's gender is kept a secret, how about we make a deal?" I turned my head to the side, raising an eyebrow to look confused. Everyone was falling for my act, this all seemed too easy.

"A deal?" I had been talking in a super high, kawaii voice all day so it was starting to sound a bit strained, which was not a good sign. No one seemed to notice though.

"Yes, a deal. We'll give you a discount for your visits to the Host club as long as you keep Haruhi's gender a secret," he gave me a fake, polite smile. I tapped a perfectly-manicured finger to my lips as if I was considering his request. I then"shyly" looked down and said in a soft voice:

"Would...would it be alright if I spent a little more time with the Host club? Not a lot...just a little..." I shuffled my feet to have a more cute effect.

"But of course! Why hadn't I thought of this sooner!" Tamaki wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Momo-chan, you will actually be spending a lot of time with us!" I only batted my eyes to seem confused. The rest of the Hosts didn't seem too happy about this plan, however.

"She will be a good girly influence to Haruhi! A girl as girly and lovely as yourself will be able to bring out the more feminine side to our little Haruhi!" The "handsome prince" was now replaced by a loud, obnoxious, love-struck boy who would do anything to see his precious crush dressed up all cute and girly. I slowly smiled sweetly, and giggled like a perfect little fairy.

"Does that mean I get to dress her up all cute?" And then I grinned evilly, I already gained the trust of the blonde and the girl. Next up, the twins. After seeing my mischievous grin, the twins seemed to have taken an interest in me. Haruhi, seemed indifferent to my reaction just as I expected her to be. I slid over to her while slinging an arm over her shoulder.

"Tamaki, can I dress up Haruhi when there aren't other girls around? I used to be a Sweet Lolita but the clothes I used to wear are too small on me now. I think that Haruhi here could fit into them _perfectly_ ," I gave him an innocent, closed-eye smile as Tamaki stuttered stupidly and turned away.

"Don't tell be you're like the twins," Haruhi grumbled to herself.

"Hey," one twin slide his arm around me.

"She's our toy, so why don't you back off?" Another arm wrapped itself around me, and now both twins were looking at me from both sides. I pretended to turn red, and I jumped away from them squeaking.

"D-don't just touch me like that! And Haruhi's not a toy she's a person!" I said in a flustered manner. They grinned at me.

"Aww, are you just jealous that Haruhi's our toy but you're not?" I glared at them while "blushing" and turned towards Tamaki.

"They're mean!" I said in a childish voice as I pointed a finger towards them. The twins may be interested in me now, but unless I'm able to tell them apart I don't be deemed as important. Luckily for me, I've studied them months ago and I'm able to distinguish them by the look of their eyes, their behaviors, and their speech and voice pitches. Learning to tell which Hitachiin was which was one of the most challenging aspects of this mission so far. When the time comes for me to tell them apart in the "which one is the Hikaru game," I'll win about eighty percent of their trust.

"You boys stop harassing Momo!" He then turned towards me, and tilted my chin towards his. Ugh. Not again. I'm so sick of having to pretend to be some love-struck teenage girl.

"Are you alright, my princess?" I covered my face and turned away, so that I could hide the look of disgust and annoyance that settled on my face. Of course no one could tell though, I'm a master when it comes to hiding my emotions from others. Well, I'm not as good as that stoic giant called Takashi.

After talking with the host club for a little bit, I went home on good terms with everyone. Kyoya seemed to be very disinterested in me however, which wasn't a good sign. I was able to easily win the trust of Tamaki, Haruhi, the twins, and Mori and Honey however. Being a giggly, shy, "adorable" girl all day is exhausting.

* * *

"I'm home," I said in a monotone voice as I entered my apartment through the front door. I could hear the loud sound of someone's fingers typing across the keyboard, and it echoed throughout the entire apartment. I didn't hear him respond, but I knew that he heard me. Dad always had a habit of typing very hard; he's already broke three keyboards this year. He almost smashes the keys as he does work, and yet he can't open a pickle jar.

As soon as I entered my room, I hurled off the sweaty wig that reeked of a disgusting odor and ripped off the dress that I had been confined in for the whole day. My skin felt as if it was suffocating under all this heavy makeup, and my hair was wet and matted. Looking into the mirror, I noticed that my make-up was starting to run a little but not too much.

I showered, washing off all that disgusting grime off of me. Cold water washed down me, and I loved not having to smile, or giggle, or blush every five seconds and having to look like the cutest thing in the world. It better not take long in order to get that Ootori boy to trust me; I think I'll go insane after a week if I have to keep up this pathetic act of mine.

After drying off and slipping into a pair of men's pajamas, I headed to the kitchen to make dinner. Dad and I have been in V.P for as long as I can remember. My mother? Left the organization. Anyone who leaves must have all of their memories erased, to protect the anonymous nature of the group. Our memory regarding mom has been erased, so that we wouldn't miss her. It was a mandatory procedure for those who chose to leave the group, and it's a great way to save yourself from heartache. If you don't remember anything about anyone, there's no reason to be sad. I don't even remember my mother's face, or her name. My father doesn't either.

I cooked miso ramen for dinner, and I ate by myself quietly. I knew better than to bother dad while he worked; he usually ate at the crack of dawn. My phone buzzed, and I answered without bothering to see who was calling.

"Hello," I sipped some water.

"Mashiro, please initiate plan 5A," my boss's voice said from the other line.

"Kay," he hung up. Finishing up the remainder of my dinner and after doing the dishes, I peeked my head in dad's office.

"Boss said I gotta go tonight," I said nonchalantly. He only grunted, which was basically telling me to go ahead. After re-entering my room, I transformed into another, different person.

This time, I was dressed up as Akira Hashimoto; he's the son of a well-known electronics company an was infamous at Ouran for hacking into it's system for fun, from time to time. He was nothing but a hacking-enthusiast, and never did much harm other than practical jokes such as scheduling a surprise fire alarm. As I brushed the various powders across my face to create another mask, other person.

* * *

The resemblance was remarkable; I truly did look like him. I spot a glance of him during lunch, and anyone would have mistaken me as him. Now, all I needed was a wig and some clothes. I threw on a hoodie, jeans, a wig, and boots. After gloving my hands to eliminate any fingerprints that could be accidentally left, I looked at my reflection. I am not Mashiro, nor am I Momo. I am now Akira Hashimoto. Smirking, I left my room, and then my house. Walking down the streets with the cool autumn wind slapping against me, my feet carried me towards the popular PC room(Local Area Network gaming center, where patrons can play games for an hourly fee. These rooms first originated from South Korea, but other neighboring countries have adopted this idea) that many boys flocked to. Akira is usually seen in this particular one, but today he went away on an Orchestra field trip.

"Welcome to the PC room!" Said a cheerful boy at the front.

"Why so formal? It's me," I said in Akira's voice.

"Oh hey Akira!" The boy grinned at me. Pulling out Akira's membership card, I coolly handed it to him. The careless boy had left it in his locker, and I had already memorized his locker combination five weeks ago. I left a decoy of course, but that one was dysfunctional.

"I thought you were at an Orchestra field trip," the boy said as he took it and scanned it. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I ditched," I said with a yawn. The boy rolled his eyes, indicating that the person I was impersonating had skipped other events in the past before.

"Bad boy, anyways have fun gaming!" He handed me the card once more. Rolling my eyes, I just sauntered over to an open computer, the farthest from the exit and the security camera. Of course "Akira" would still be caught with doing this deed.

Several other teens, mostly male, were staring at their glowing computer screens lost in their games. Because of the darkness of the room, the only distinguishable feature of these boys were their pale faces, which appeared to be glowing and floating. The light from the sleek monitors would change and flicker rapidly, and it reminded me of the faces of those sitting near a campfire. Headphones sat on the heads of everyone, blocking out all outisde noise and sucking them into a different virtual world. They all wore the same, concentrated expression on their faces and their eyes all held the same, glassy appearance; all of these boys were immersed in their own fantasy worlds, where everything was determined by a simple command from the keyboard. The echoing sounds of smashing and typing and clicking thundered across the room, sounding like a heavy rainstorm. Although I'm not a game enthusiast, I understand the thrill of rigorously smashing down on the computer keys and watching the results appear instantly on the glowing screen.

Plopping into the spinning chair, I turned the power of the computer on. Stretching my arms and cracking my neck before starting, I smiled to myself. This plan is going to be so much fun.

Fingers gliding across the computer keys, the sound of my typing was drowned out in the louder sea of noise. The light from the screen cast a muted shade of green on my face and hands, and to onlookers I may have resembled an alien.

After downloading an easy programming and hacking system onto the computer without disrupting the connectivity of the other devices, I began my quest of configuring this network and connecting it with the Ootori's database. Decoding all the encrypted passwords and breaking down the firewalls of the Ootori's network easily, I purposely left my tracks uncovered so that they could use a programs such as wire shark to hunt down"Akira" later. I have nothing against this boy, but he would be the most plausible suspect to anyone; he was the only student intelligent enough to be capable of hacking into such a secure system in Ouran. I was simply using him as a decoy, to lead the Ootoris on a wild goose chase; this Akira fellow would simply be a diversion from the actual mastermind, which would be me. Creating a false suspect will allow me to carry on my mission with more ease. But of course, no simple computer such as the one I was working on would be powerful enough to override an entire network! This failed attempt to break in would only attack some of the Ootori domain's defenses, and create a distraction. The black screen with glaring, glowing green letters scrolled down and down as more text appeared on the screen, my fingers nearly flying across the keyboard. As I ventured a little more deeper into the system, the other firewalls blocked me out, as expected.

Error. Bold-faced letters stared back at me, and I leaned back in my chair while exhaling. My work here was done. Quickly uninstalling the program I had temporarily downloaded, I simply shut down the computer and sauntered towards the boy from earlier. Checking the time, I realized that it only took me forty minutes to break down three firewalls and bypass four gateways.

"Done already?" Akira's friend looked incredulous. Nodding my head, I paid for my stay and then exited the room.

Pleased with the results of today, I strolled through the city's streets back towards my place. If I got to code or hack every once in a while, I think I'll find living as a bubbly, air-headed girl during the day much more tolerable.


End file.
